Every day since the murder of Jill Dando 20 years ago, her cousin Judith has felt an endless sense of loss.

And the pain of the TV presenter’s doorstep shooting runs as deep now as it did on the day she died.

But to keep her memory alive and to turn something that was so negative into a positive, Judith is running the Virgin London Marathon to raise money for the British Heart Foundation; one of Jill’s favourite charities.

She reveals:“Jill was born with a hole in her heart and at the age of three she had an operation to close it. She was a big supporter of the British Heart Foundation and now I want to help the charity by running the marathon to help raise more funds for the research they do.”

Today Judith tells of their unbreakable bond ahead of a major new BBC documentary into the 37-year-old Crimewatch presenter’s death – a murder that left the nation stunned back in April 1999.

The cousins pose together at the Police Bravery Awards towards the end of the 1990s (Image: Judith Dando)

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“Her early starts for BBC Breakfast meant she had to go to bed by 8pm – and if I had people over for supper it was difficult as Jill needed peace and quiet,” says Judith.

“There was a little bit of friction at times. Our lives started to go in different directions.”

After five years together, rising star Jill bought her own home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham – the house where she would be shot dead by a mystery gunman as she arrived on her doorstep one morning after staying over at boyfriend Alan Farthing’s home four miles away in Chiswick.

Judith shared this childhood snap of herself, right, with Jill when raising money for the British Heart Foundation

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Judith shivers at the thought – because she had warned her famous cousin it would be better to go for a gated-complex with better security.

“Jill was ridiculously naive about her security,” she says. “When she went for the house in Gowan Avenue I remember saying to her, ‘do you really want to do this, you are living on your own. Wouldn’t you be better off with a smart apartment where you have a security guard’.

“I had also spoken to her about driving around in a soft top car in London. I said it was not a good idea because she was so well known.

“But I think perhaps she hadn’t seen enough to realise nasty things can happen – and sadly it did to her.”

Her last memory of Jill was at her engagement party, a month before she was murdered.

“Jill had already asked me if I would be her bridesmaid – but it was so busy, I didn’t get a chance to catch up with her properly.”

Judith Dando features in BBC documentary The Murder Of Jill Dando (Image: BBC)